Rubrics Tool FAQ

Rubrics are an assessment tool used in Brightspace (D2L) to evaluate students on a set of criteria and levels that you set. Using a Rubric as a grading tool helps to ensure that you grade consistently and fairly and to communicate to students what is expected on a graded item.

There are two types of Rubrics that are available in Brightspace, Holistic and Analytic.

1. Holistic Rubrics are used as one dimensional single criteria rubrics. Assessing performance across multiple criteria as a whole.  Holistic rubrics are used to assess students on predefined levels.
2. Analytic Rubrics can be assessed on multiple criteria.  You can assign different values to different criteria and then the rubric will generate an overall score for the grade.

• Text Only performance levels are expressed using only text. For example, three performance levels for a rubric could be Poor, Good, and Excellent.
• Points includes points to assess performance. For example, three performance levels for a rubric could be Poor (0 points), Good (75 points), and Excellent (125 points).
• Custom Points can be used only for Analytic type rubrics. The Custom Points scoring method is similar to the Points scoring method, but you can customize the points given for each criterion (row). For example, if performance levels are “Poor”, “Good”, and “Excellent”, then the criterion “Spelling and Grammar” could be worth 0 points, 10 points, and 20 points for each level, but the criterion “Expression” could be worth 0 points, 30 points, and 60 points, making it worth 3 times the points for “Spelling and Grammar”.
• Percentages can be used only for Holistic type rubrics. Percentages is similar to Points, but measures performance in percentages instead of points. A rubric using the “Percentages” can be automatically assessed based on the score of its associated item (such as a grade item).

• Rubrics are set as a status of “Draft” by default.  A Draft rubric is not usable in your course.  Only in the Draft status can you modify a rubric.
• To use a Rubric on an assignment in Brightspace you will need to set the status to “Published”.  A Published rubric can be used in Brightspace but is not modifiable.
• The “Archived” status is used when you want to retire a rubric and not use it anymore. Rubrics do not appear in default search results and are not available for new associations.

The ability to edit a rubric is limited. Once a rubric has been associated, or connected, to an activity in your Brightspace course site, you are only able to edit the rubric’s status. When this happens, your best option is to make a copy of your existing rubric and then make the necessary changes. Make sure you double and triple check your completed rubric before publishing it and associating it with activities.

After you have finished creating your Rubric, you must associate it with the appropriate Dropbox Folder, Discussion Topic, or Grade Item.

Watch this below video to find out how.